Statement on Newman to Be Declared Patron of Catholic Education and Doctor of the Church
The Cardinal Newman Society joyfully celebrates the Vatican’s announcement that our holy patron, St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, will be named the universal Church’s Patron of Catholic Education on October 28 and Doctor of the Church on All Saints Day (November 1).
Praise be to God! Deo gratias!
For more than three decades, The Cardinal Newman Society has championed and advanced St. John Henry Newman’s vision for faithful Catholic education. We evaluate and recognize institutions in The Newman Guide that live out the world-celebrated model of education propounded by St. John Henry Newman—now exalted by the Church!
The Cardinal Newman Society now bears the name of both the Patron Saint of Catholic Education and a Doctor of the Church!
More than the name, however, The Cardinal Newman Society’s mission advances Newman’s model through The Newman Guide and our work to evaluate, assist, promote, and network faithful Newman Guide Recommended institutions.
God’s timing is wonderful! Before the end of 2025, we will release new print and digital editions of The Newman Guide that, for the first time, recognize Catholic elementary and secondary schools and graduate programs as well as undergraduate colleges!
We urge all Catholics to advance the vision of St. John Henry Newman by supporting and praying for The Cardinal Newman Society and promoting The Newman Guide to lead Catholic families to faithful Catholic education that forms young people in faith, virtue, and wisdom.
St. John Henry Newman will be the 38th Doctor of the Church, out of about 8,000 saints traditionally celebrated by the Catholic Church. Newman’s holy name is now fixed in the company of Aquinas, Ambrose, Augustine, Bonaventure, Catherine, Francis de Sales, John of the Cross, and Theresa of Avila.
Only two other Doctors are Moderns—Alphonsus Liguori (d. 1787) and Thérèse of Lisieux (d. 1897)—and Newman (d. 1890) speaks uniquely to the state of the Church and society today.
There is much about Newman that inspires many Catholics—his conversion, his insightful sermons, his reverent prayers, and his deep theology and philosophy—so that his lifetime devotion to education is often ignored. But all of Newman’s writings and his life were rooted in education, both formal education (at Oxford, Newman’s Catholic University of Ireland, and his Oratory School) and every cultivation of the mind and soul.
Newman said his life’s work was to fight “liberalism in religion”: the tendency to regard divine revelation and worship as unimportant and relevant only in the privacy of the home and church. His solution? Catholic education, teaching both faith and reason.
Newman’s idea of education has been greatly distorted by those who take only a portion of his arguments, attempting to argue for secular liberal education or Catholic centers at public universities. Newman was clear: a secular education lacks the most important knowledge and is dangerous to its students. The only complete education is Catholic.
The Cardinal Newman Society’s work of reforming Catholic education includes clear explanation of Newman’s vision for education—now all the more important, since that vision is now recommended to all the Faithful by the Church. This includes challenging the falsehoods and distortions.
Patrick Reilly, President and Founder of The Cardinal Newman Society, will be in Rome for the Jubilee events with Catholic educators and the Nov. 1 Mass naming our patron Doctor of the Church. He is a noted speaker on St. John Henry Newman and his vision for Catholic education, and he is available for media interviews and speaking engagements. Contact Kevin Murphy, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, at kmurphy@cardinalnewmansociety.org or call 816.863.8880.
St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, Patron Saint of Catholic Education and Doctor of the Church, ora pro nobis!